Pierce, Celtics rout Trail Blazers

Pierce finished 10-of-19 shooting and grabbed six rebounds for the Celtics, who have won two straight. West, who shot 7-of-12 off the bench, also had six boards.

Wally Szczerbiak added 19 points while Sebastian Telfair tallied 15 and dished out seven assists in the win.

Boston was an impressive 60 percent from three-point range and shot 51.3 percent from the field.

Zack Randolph led the Trail Blazers with 23 points on 6-of-14 shooting with 12 rebounds and Ime Udoka had 14 points. Portland has dropped its last four contests.

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 12 points and Juan Dixon added 11 in defeat.

The Celtics owned a small lead for the first half of the opening quarter, but Aldridge’s dunk put the Trail Blazers up by one with 5:35 left. A jumper by Dixon gave Portland a six-point edge two minutes later, however, Boston went on an 8-2 spurt capped by three Leon Powe free throws to knot the game, 20-20.

Trailing by four midway through the second, the Celtics opened up a 10-0 run, finished up by Szczerbiak’s jumper with just under five minutes to play. Portland, though, tied the contest on two Aldridge free throws, but Pierce scored eight points in the final two minutes to give Boston a 50-43 halftime advantage.

Powe’s dunk put the Celtics, who never trailed during the frame, up by 10 late in the third. Pierce then followed up with a driving layup and jump shot as Boston opened up a 12-point lead.

The Celtics owned the fourth, going on a 21-7 burst 3:15 into the quarter, capped by 10 straight points from West. The Grizzlies never recovered and were outscored, 41-25.

Game Notes

Boston has won back-to-back games for the first time this season...Portland shot 43 percent from the field...Prior to the game, Boston announced that center Michael Olowokandi will miss 2-4 weeks with an abdominal strain...Boston visits New York on Saturday while Portland travels to New Jersey.